“Murray is the perfect project to get audiences into the holiday spirit, and Mike’s impressive comedic background makes him a great choice to put all the pieces together,” NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke said in a release announcing the news.

Music for the special, which will air in December 2014, will be composed by Oscar nominee Walter Murphy (Ted), who also earned an Emmy for his work on Fox's Family Guy.

Reiss is a former writer and EP on The Simpsons and created the short-lived animated comedy The Critic. His credits include Not Necessarily the News, The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Simpsons Movie.

For NBC, Murray comes as the network is ramping up on specials and limited series, adding ABC's Quinn Taylor as vp movie, miniseries and international co-productions. This holiday season, NBC will air a live three-hour performance of The Sound of Music from Smash's Craig Zadan and Neil Meron starring Carrie Underwood.